So I was checking in on the Hair Accessory post I’d made when I came to a startling realization…
For GvG the AOE Defense Ratio stat has to be about the single most important stat possible that I can think of o.o I didn’t put a lot of thought into it before but… hear me out. And feel free to offer forth your opinions in the thread. Stacking that stat could change the tide in GvG and I expect some of the more successful guilds in GvGs will be doing this from now on o.o
Players start with a default AOE Defense Ratio stat of 1. Just 1 single measly little point. Hair Accessories with the AOE Defense Ratio stat essentially give you +300% to that base stat when stacking each piece with it, for a grand total of 4 AOE Defense Ratio if each piece worn has +1 AOE Defense Ratio.
Before we go on, I understand, of course, that not all skills use the AOE Attack Ratio. Most are limited only by total hits, or duration, etc. But a lot of skills also base their ratio off of your character’s AOE Attack Ratio stat, including all of your melee auto attacks. But for the example below we’ll skip those and just say that all skills being used are based on AOE Attack Ratio.
Now… Let’s assume there are 10 vs 10 on a field. Each side has the same classes, same levels, etc. Guild A has each member wearing 3 hair accessories with the +1 AOE Defense Ratio stat (a very difficult stat to find elsewhere), for a total of 4 AOE Defense Ratio per member. Guild B has not taken this step.
Let’s say now that each member of both guilds has an AOE that has an AOE Attack Ratio of 5, which is fairly modest. Let’s also say that each hit done is 1k damage for simplicity. Both teams are huddled in a tight and easy to hit formation because, well, example lol.
Guild A unleashes their AOEs and they all hit. 10 members cast, 5 AOE Attack Ratio means each AOE hits 5 enemy players (their AOE Defense Ratio is 1) so… 10x5 = 50 hits, 50k damage.
Guild B unleashes their AOEs and they… well, they hit only 2 people per AOE. 10 members cast, 5 AOE Attack Ratio means each AOE hits 2 enemy players (5 AOE Attack Ratio - 4 AOE Defense Ratio, remaining 1 AOE Attack Ratio gets rounded up by the game to include another target) so 10x2 = 20k damage.
That stat, over the course of several AOEs, countless total hits, is almost the same as saying… “Reduce the other team’s total damage dealt by AOE Attack Ratio skills by 50% or more” and… in a lot of cases… a lot more.
Elementalist’s Meteor: 10 AOE Attack Ratio (Guild A hits 10 enemy players, Guild B hits only 3 enemy players; Guild A prevented/negated 70% of Guild B’s total Meteor Damage)… but it’s also not just that. Having less people being hit means that more players survive, which means it increases your team’s overall damage dealt too. In addition to that, since less people are being hit, the odds of even low-hp members getting away safely increases with more AOE Defense Ratio. Damage done, or received, is one thing, but it opens up a whole other level when you consider that several members may not even be hit at all, even if they are already only one hit away from death. People are adding +HP to try and keep themselves alive, but if everyone has +AOE Defense Ratio then you could be saving yourself or teammates from way more damage received than what the little +HP would offer in comparison.
Now this is even more important when you consider that players are always trying to get even more AOE Attack Ratio from their gear, so for every AOE Attack Ratio that Guild A has extra they will hit another body, whereas Guild B needs +4 extra AOE Attack Ratio to hit another body. Guild A needs +2 AOE Attack Ratio to hit 2 more people, Guild B needs +8 more AOE Attack Ratio to hit 2 more people.
It adds up pretty quickly.
Most Swordsman types will be up close and personal and have a decent AOE Attack Ratio, but to even hit more than 2 players at once they will have to have a total of 9+ AOE Attack Ratio, 13+ if they want to hit more than just 3 players if the opposing guild is stacking AOE Defense Ratio.
Thoughts? Feels? Anyone?